Damnit!!! Some days, it does not pay to own this car.....

[Ackbar00]

Got it back together last night, and took it for a spin. Installed a used 3550 and had my header fixed. Right awy, I notice, that the vibration is still there! I mean, mother ******, I have replaced everything!!! So if that is not the worst, the "new" tranny has issue going from 3 back into 2. I bought this thing with the knowledge that it will need a rebuild here soon, but I did not think right away!!

So, I call the engine builder (Fox Lake) and ask him, what is up? This thing has vibrated since day one. I told him all the stuff I replaced and what I had done. Well, he suggest I check the ignition, and make sure that is all good. Other than that, I would have to pull the motor and have him inspect it . Well, Shit.... He calls me back in 10 minutes and says, I think we found your problem. The build sheet says this was built for a 28 oz balance. Why is this so important, because stock Mustang use 50 oz balance shit!!!!!!!!!! So, him being true to his word, I am sending him my Flywheel and my Romac balancer. He is redooing the flywheel to make it a 28 oz, and he has a Romac 28 oz in his shop. He is doing this for free. He agrees, the motor was supposed to be a 50 oz, but I will have to check my paperwork. If mine says 28oz, then I should have said something when I picked it up. I have nothing but good things to say about Ron and Fox Lake, they have helped my and my friends a lot more than he has too. I am just glad that we found out what the problem was. There could still be engine damage, but we are going to do things one step at a time. Shitty, part is, I have to pull the tranny again, right after, I just got it in!! Guess this is a good time to put a good quality clutch in, I was going to use this hybrid setup I had, but I think I might just get a complete new setup from here: http://www.modularmustangracing.com/

You can see some pics on my pic website:
http://usera.imagecave.com/ackbar00/

[Ieatcamaros]

Man I feel ya on the vibration issues. I chased a vibration in my 351w. The 351's use 28 oz stuff too. I sent my flywheel to Keith Craft and had them drill the flywheel to change from 50 oz to 28 oz. I put a fluiddamper 28 oz harmonic balancer on it. SFI approved, I might add. I could not for the life of me figure out why the hell it was vibrating. In this process, I did also switch from rubber motor mounts to solid mounts. But that was not the problem. I never really suspected them, but it was something to try cause you never know. Anyway, I tried a different flywheel. One from an old 351 that used a 10 inch clutch set up. That didn't fix it. So by now, I knew it wasnt' the clutch, flywheel, or solid motor mounts. I had run this motor for awhile before this started. So I also knew it wasn't the crank either. Only one thing left to try-the harmonic balancer. I borrowed my buddys fluiddamper (he has the exact same one) and put it on. Voila! no vibration! So I took it back off to compare his to mine to see why mine was causing the vibration. The keyway was not broached in the right place. It was about 5 degrees off! The vibration never was very bad, but it was very noticeable and aggravating.

[rwhite65]

Chasing vibrations down sucks, but atleast now you have found it!
Ryan